The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Unionist MP, Philip Kenyon-Slaney on 9 September 1928.
The result at the last general election was: The Unionist candidate was Wallace Duffield Wright.
He served in the British Army, reaching the rank of Brigadier General, being awarded the Victoria Cross.
He was a Plymouth builder, who had been boss of the Municipal Employees Union and had contested Hastings three times without success.
With polling day fixed for a date, just 4 weeks after the death or the former MP, the campaign was very short.